Improvement in sad and fluting irons



L. MONEY.

Sad and Flutng Irons.

PatentedlDecJJSS.

Lawence Mooney.

A tto may.

v arg.

UNITED STATES PATENT QEErcE LAWRENCE MOONEY, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO RACHAEL MOONEY, OF SAME PLACE.

|MPRovEMNT IN SAD AND FLUTING mous.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,676, dated December 16, 1873; application iiled August 29, 1873.

'o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE MooNEY, of the city and county of Allegheny and State of. Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Sad and Fluting Irons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, making part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a side view. Fig. 2 is an end view.

IheY nature of my invention consists in constructing the face of the polishing-iron, and also the face of the flirting-iron, each of a double curved form, or, that is, each iron is curved from the toe to the heel and from side to side, and which curved lines cross at the center of the plate and in such manner as to necessarily destroy the entire flat surface of each plate, and which construction of iron,

Y or rather arrangement of curves, only permits of the smallest possible portion of the surface of v the iron being brought into action, and which is of the greatest importance. This it is which constitutes the chief advantage of my invention, especially as it is secured in connection with a curved surface, and on ironing-faces so arranged or curved as to permit of their being used forward or backward in a straight or in an. angular direction, and under all circumstances,with equal facility.

It is well known that the ordinary smoothing or sad ironwill not impart to shirt-bosoms, wristbands, collars, and other like articles, the desired polish, and consequently when the polish is obtained on articles which have been ironed with an iron of -the class referred to, it is due entirely'to the fact that wax, spermaceti, or some other such ingredient has been mixed with the starch. The use of these substances is objectionable, not only on account of the fact that they are expensive, but because from their nature they adhere with such tenacity to the material that in washing the soiled articles they can only be removed after much and otherwise unnecessary hard rubbing, and which soon destroys or wears 'out the portions of the garment that are starched.

am aware that many irons have been in vented the chief object of which was to give starched fabrics the desired gloss or polish, and at the same time avoid the use of the ingredients before mentioned. Among the earliest of these irons was the one patented to M. A. B. Cook, December 6, 1848; and I ain also aware that in this iron the'polishing-surface was a curve provided around the edge of the iron, and which extended in every direction from a at center-piece or a flat section at the center of the iron.

My present invention is really an improvement on this iron. In the first place, my iron in operation is held in a natural position, or as the ordinary smoothing-iron is held. To use the Cook iron for polishing purposes it has to be tilted and held and worked on its side and end. On the surface of my iron there is no ridge, which there is on the Cook iron, and a continuous one, the same being formed at the point of union between the curved and liat sections thereof. The absence of this ridge permits my iron, no matter in which direction it is worked, straight or with a movement in an angular direction, to operate with equal advantage, as a surface of the same character is always presented to the material, and no matter how the iron is held, the smallest possible portion of its surface is brought in contact with the material; and it is this which causes my iron most rapidly, and with the least possible amount of labor, to impart to the bosom, collar, Wristband, Snc., the richest gloss or polish.

-I am also aware that convex crimpers have been used for liuting; but they have only been curved in one direction,and always simply designed to be used with a rocking, and not an ironing, movement. Owing to the double or opposite curved form of my corrugated plate, I secure the advantage of being enabled to work the iron with both movements. In ironing the ruffle or other article to be liuted, the longitudinal curve will take all the wrinkles or creases out of the material by pushing them right along in front or in advance of the iron; and, besides, all the advantage of imparting rapidly a rich gloss to the material, and with little labor, and which, as has been said, is in consequence of so small a portion of the iron being brought in contact therewith, pertains with equal force to the .fiuting as to the polishing iron. l

The construction and operation of my invention are as follows:

A is the polishing-iron, and B is the corrugated fluting-iron or crimper,'and G is an ordinary handle cast or otherwise secured to the iron. These are all manufactured in the usual way, and out of any suitable material. In the accompanying drawing, the corrugated flutingsurface B is cast with the iron A, forming, as it were, a heel-plate attachment thereto; but this is no portion of my present invention, as whatever of novelty there may be in forming a polishing or sad iron with a corrugated heel- Vplate I have already claimed in a previous application, which is now pending in the United States Patent Office; and, besides, the features which constitute my present invention I desire to claim whether used on separate irons or on a combined polishing and fiuting iron; and, when used on a combined iron, I do not desire to arbitrarily limit myself to the ar- 1angement shown, as the plate may be cast in sections, one fitting in the other, and connected by any suitable attachment or fastening when connected for use as a sad-iron, and detachable at pleasure, so as to permit of the handle-plate being independently used as a fluting-iron.

I will now proceed to refer to the featines which constitute my present improvement, and which are clearly shown in the accompanying drawing, and which relate entirely to the form or contour of the plates A B. The plate A is curved longitudinally from the toe a to thcheel a', and horizontally or in the opposite direction from c to o. These curves are exceedingly slight and gradual, cross at the center of the plate, and embrace the entire surface of the iron, destroying the entire flat surface thereof, and which arrangement of curves,.no

matter how the iron is held, or in what direc tion worked, always insures that precisely the same character of surface, or a section of the same form, shall be presented to the material. The iiuting-plateB is corrugated longitudinally, and is curved from its upper section b to its lowest section b', and in the opposite direction from its lateral edge d to its other lateral edge d. 'lhese opposite or cross curves are slight, and precisely of the same character as are the curves of the plate A, crossing, as they do, at the center, and in every particular involving the same principle, both in construction and operation. This double curve permits of the corrugated face o f the fiuting -iron B being used with a rocking movement, as a crimper, or with an ordinary ironing movement. Of course, in either case, it is used in connection with an ordinary corrugated base-board.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A polishing-iron, A, the face of which is curved from its toe a, to its heel a', and in the opposite direction from its lateral face c to its face c', said curves crossing at the center of the iron, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. A corrugated flirting-iron, B, the face of which is curved from its upper edge b to its lowest edge b', and in the opposite direction from its lateral face cl to its face d', said curves crossing at the center of the iron, substantially as described, as and for the purpose specified.

3. A combined sad and polishing iron, having a double 1 reversed curved face, A, and double-reversed curved face B, the latter corrugated longitudinally, substantially kas de scribed, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

L. MOONEY. l'Vitnesses:

EDWIN J AMEs,

Jos. T. K. PLANT. 

